拨

撥

bō

发 + 扌

HSK 2.0Level 6

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

bō (verb) to push aside; to move aside

bō (verb) to dial (phone); to tune (radio)

bō (verb) to allocate; to set aside (money)

bō (verb) to pluck (a string instrument)

Etymology

To dispatch 发 goods by hand 扌

About

拨 (traditional: 撥) is a phono-semantic compound. The left component 扌 (hand radical) indicates a manual action, while the right component 发 (or 發) provides the phonetic hint. Its core meaning is to push aside, move, or pluck with the hands or a tool, as in strumming a string or turning a dial. This sense extends to the administrative act of allocating or dispatching funds, resources, and personnel.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

妈妈拨打了手机。

Māma bōdǎ le shǒujī.

Mom dialed the mobile phone.

他拨开了窗帘。

Tā bōkāi le chuānglián.

He parted the curtains.

政府拨款建学校。

Zhèngfǔ bōkuǎn jiàn xuéxiào.

The government allocated funds to build a school.

微风拨动了湖面。

Wēifēng bōdòng le hú miàn.

The breeze stirred the lake surface.

你需要拨号上网。

Nǐ xūyào bōhào shàngwǎng.

You need to dial up to access the internet.

他拨弄着吉他弦。

Tā bōnòng zhe jítā xián.

He was strumming the guitar strings.

公司拨付了项目资金。

Gōngsī bōfù le xiàngmù zījīn.

The company appropriated the project funds.

在紧急情况下，他迅速拨通了救援电话，并清晰说明了情况。

Zài jǐnjí qíngkuàng xià, tā xùnsù bōtōng le jiùyuán diànhuà, bìng qīngxī shuōmíng le qíngkuàng.

In an emergency, he quickly dialed the rescue phone number and clearly explained the situation.

Related Characters

Component: 发

Component: 扌

拨